Connector assembly for pivotally mounted display tube



A 8- 19, 1969 T. F. VOM BRACK ETAL, 3,462,112

CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTED DISPLAY TUBE Filed Au 4, 1 967 I 25. INVENTORS 24 1 THEODORE F. VOM BRACK 5| 5O 44 32 PAUL A.NOVAK ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,462,112 CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTED DISPLAY TUBE Theodore F. Vom Brack, Arlington Heights, and Paul A.

Novak, Wauconda, Ill., assignors to Warwick Electronics Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 658,484

Int. Cl. A47b 95/00 U.S. Cl. 248---349 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A connector assembly for a television receiver of the type having a display tube pivotally mounted above a base enclosing the functional components for receiving signals and transposing the same into a video and audio presentation. The rotational movement of the display tube is limited by a locking finger which may be selectively urged to a position beyond the normal limits of rotational movement to place the components of the connector assembly in a position for disassembly by relative axial movement thereof to permit disconnection and withdrawal of the display tube assembly from the base portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to a connector assembly for television receivers of the type having a display tube pivotally mounted with respect to a base which supports and encloses the functional components of signal receiving chassis.

Description of the prior art No specific prior art is known which shows the type of connector assembly disclosed and claimed herein. However, the general type of television receiver to which this connector assembly is directed has been previously known, examples of which are shown in U.S. Letters Design Patent No. Des. 183,779, issued Oct. 21, 1958, to Richard J. Whipple, and U.S. Letters Design Patent No. Des. 183,780, issued Oct. 21, 1958, to Richard J. Whipple and Severen Johanssen. Generally speaking, each of these design patents shows a television receiver of the type wherein the display tube is pivotally mounted with respect to a separate base wherein the functional circuitry components are housed for receiving a signal and converting the same into a discernible audio and video presentation.

Most television receivers are of the type wherein the display tube is mounted within a housing which also encloses the chassis to which the functional components of the circuitry are connected. Thus, the display tube is not pivotal with respect to the chassis or the remaining components of the circuitry. It has been found desirable to provide a more personalized type of television receiver which can be used on a smaller shelf arrangement or as part of a desk arrangement or the like wherein the display tube is pivotal with respect to the chassis to provide increased viewing area versatility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed, in brief, to the provision of a connector assembly for use between the housing for the base, or chassis, portion and the housing for the display tube of a television receiver of the type wherein the display tube is pivotally mounted above the base or chassis. In particular, the connector assembly herein has a novel construction permitting limited pivotal movement of the display tube relative to the housing and also facilitating easy disconnection and removal of the dsplay tube from its pivotal mounting by means of a lock arrangement 3,462,112 Patented Aug. 19, 1969 "ice DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a television receiver of the type wherein the display tube is pivotally mounted with respect to a base which encloses the chassis and provided with a connector assembly embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken generally along the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the connector assembly, the plug, and socket being omitted;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the components of the connector assembly moved to a position wherein they may be separated by axial movement to effectuate the disconnection of the display tube housing from the base; and

FIGURE 5 is a section view similar to FIGURE 2 but with the connector assembly in the relationship shown in FIGURE 4 ready for relative disconnection.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Television receiver 10 is the type having a separate base 12 including a housing 12a which encloses the chassis. A display tube 14 secured within a housing 14a is pivotally mounted on top of the base 12 by means of the connector, or neck, assembly 16 of this invention. The connector, or neck, assembly 16 includes a base portion, or member, 18 which may be formed as an integral portion of the housing 12a, and a top portion, or member 20, which may be formed as an integral portion of the housing 14a. Portions 18 and 20 will be discussed herein as separate individual units, or member, with the understanding that they actually could be integrally formed as a part of the housings 12a and 14a respectively.

Base member 18 includes a generally cylindrical hub 22 having a hollow cylindrical interior 24. Preferably the hub is made of a plastic material such as polystyrene. The lower end of the hub has a radially enlarged surface 25. A ring 26 is concentric to the hub 22 in the area of surface 25 and joined thereto by channel portion 28. The cylindrical wall of the hub at spaced portions 30a and 30b and a portion of the ring 26 are cut away at 32 to define a yieldable finger 34. The free end of the finger is formed with a cam surface 36, the sides 38a and 38b of which provide lateral protrusions or stop members to serve as part of the means for limiting pivotal movement of the assembly. A plurality of bosses 40 extend radially outwardly from the upper end of the hub and form part of the locking surfaces for normally holding the portions 18 and 20 axially together. In addition, the upper end of the hub supports a socket member 42 to which is connected wiring 44 from the several circuitry components ofthe chassis.

Top member 20 includes a sleeve-like member 46 of hard plastic material which is generally of a size and shape to fit over the hub portion 22 and partially into the channel 28. The sleeve portion includes a plurality of axially extending grooves 48 in the inner wall thereof, the grooves 48 being of a size and shape to generally matingly receive the bosses 40 of the hub. The lower end of the interior of sleeve 46 is increased in diameter to form a shoulder 50 which engages surface 25 of the hub to limit the telescopment of sleeve 46 with hub 22. The reduced portion 51 of the sleeve is received in channel 28. The upper end of the sleeve 46 is provided with an increased interior diameter forming a shoulder 52 which underlies the bosses 40 when the parts are in their normal assembled position as 3 shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 with shoulder 50 abutting surface 25. Shoulder 52 cooperates with bosses 40 to provide mutually engageable locking surfaces which prevent axial withdrawal of sleeve 46 from hub 22.

A portion of the wall of the sleeve 45 is cut away to provide an opening 56 limited by side wall 58a and side Wall 58b. The finger 34- extends through this opening and the sides 38a and 38b of the finger combine with the sides 58a and 58b of the opening to provide a means for limiting the relative rotation of the portion 20 and portion 18. The sector defined by the opening 56 is suficiently limited in relation to the location of the grooves 48 and the relative location of finger 34 and bosses 48 so that bosses 40' cannot be aligned with grooves 48 within the limited amount of pivotal movement permitted by the finger-slot connection 34-56.

The lower end of the sleeve 46 is provided with a plug 60 which matingly engages with the socket 42 to provide a separable electical connection therewith so that the wiring 44 may transmit the appropriate signals to the display tube 14 from the base portion 12. The connector assembly 16 made up of the members 18 and 20 may rest upon a supporting neck structure 62 which may be connected to the chassis in the interior of the base 12.

In operation, the connector assembly permits rotation of the display tube housing 14 relative to the base 12 through a preselected sector of angular displacement measured by the angular width of the opening 56 in the wall of the sleeve 46. The opposite side walls 58a and 58b of opening 56 will abut the opposite sides 38a and 38b of the cam surface 36 of finger 34 to limit rotation. To disassemble the display tube housing 14 from the base 12, the finger 34 may be urged inwardly to a non-limiting position so that the sides 38a and 38b of cam surface 36 do not engage walls 58a and 58b, thereby allowing finger 34 to ride in the interior of the sleeve 46. The members 18 and 20 are then rotated relative to each other until the bosses 40 are in alignment with the grooves 48 which open through the shoulder 52. When the parts are so positioned, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, relative axial movement between the two may be etfected to separate top member 20 from base member 18. In addition, the plug and socket connections 60 and 42, respectively, permits the electrical disconnection between the display tube housing and the base member 18.

To reassemble the two components, the plug and socket connection may first be connected. Then the sleeve 46 may be telescoped over the hub 22 with the bosses 40 in alignment with the grooves 48 as shown in FIGURE 4. The cam surface 36 causes the finger 34 to spring inwardly so that it rides in the interior of the sleeve 46. When the sleeve bottoms in the channel 28 with shoulder 50 abutting surface 25, the bosses 40 are above the shoulder 52. The sleeve 46 may be then rotated relative to the hub 22 and as soon as the finger 34 is opposite the opening 56, it will spring outwardly to the position shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. The relative rotation between the members 18 and 20 is then limited to a sector defined by the size of the opening 56. Because grooves 48 are spaced from side 58a and 58b of opening 56 a distance such that bosses 40 cannot be aligned with the grooves while rotational movement is limited by finger 34, members 18 and 28 are locked against ielative axial withdrawal.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitatiofis should be understood therefrom, as some modifications may be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A connector assembly for pivotally mounting a display tube to a support housing, comprising: a hollow base member; means for fixedly associating the base member with a support housing; a top member; means for fixedly associating the top member with a display tube, said top member being rotatably associated with said base member; cooperating limit means on said members for limiting the relative rotation of the two members to a preselected sector, said rotation limiting means being selectively disposable to permit relative rotation of said members beyond said sector; and cooperating locking means on said top and base members for selectively preventing relative axial movement of said members, said locking means being selectively disposed to permit relative axial movement of said members as an incident of said members being rotated beyond said sector.

2. The connector assembly of claim 1 wherein said limit means includes a resiliently yieldable finger on the base member and angular spaced shoulders on said top memher.

3. The connector assembly of claim 2 wherein the limit means further includes a slot formed in the top member into which said finger normally projects, said slot having side walls defining said angular spaced shoulders.

4. The connector assembly of claim 1 wherein said locking means include angular spaced bosses on one of the members and an annular shoulder on the other member having correspondingly angular spaced grooves which are out of alignment with said bosses when said limit means is arranged to limit the relative rotation of said members.

5. A connector assembly for pivotally connecting a display tube to a support housing containing functional components, comprising: a base member associated with the support housing, said base member comprising a substantially hollow cylindrical hub, the lower portion of the hub having a radially outwardly exteding surface terminating in means defining a channel, the top portion of the hub having a plurality of outwardly protruding locking surfaces, and a portion of the side wall of the hub being provided with a yieldable finger having a cam surface which normally projects outwardly from the said wall of the hub, the finger being movable inwardly of the hub to move the outwardly projecting surface of the finger within the peripheral border defined by the remainder of the hub; and a top member generally telescopically associated with the base member, the top member comprising a substantially circular cylindrical sleeve having an opening in a portion thereof through which the finger normally projects, engagement of the finger member and the opening in the sleeve limiting the relative rotation of the base and top members, movement of the finger of the base member inwardly permitting relative rotation of the base and top members beyond the normally limited relative rotation and further permitting axial withdrawal of the top member from the base to disassemble the components thereby.

6. The connector assembly of claim 5 wherein said top member is provided with a shoulder for engagement with the radial enlargement at the lower end of the hub to limit relative telescopment of the member on the base member.

7. The connector assembly of claim 6 wherein the top member is further provided with an upper shoulder which overlies said locking surfaces of the hub, the upper shoulder having a plurality of axially extending grooves of a size and shape to receive said locking surfaces, said grooves being spaced relative to the opening in the sleeve wall such that the locking surfaces of the base member cannot be brought into alignment with the grooves when said finger is in the rotation limiting position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,963,467 6/1934 Keller 108-141 2,784,987 3/1957 Corcoran 28791 XR 3,170,738 2/1965 Winfree 248349 XR CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner J. PETO, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

